Three-in-one valve and control system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a three-in-one valve comprising an inlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow to an inlet of the valve, an outlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow into an outlet of the valve and a control valve for opening and closing the valve. During operation, the control valve can be opened and closed while the inlet shut off valve and outlet shut off valve are in an open position. The inlet shutoff valve and outlet shutoff can be closed for preventing flow into the control valve, thereby allowing the control valve to be serviced without draining of an attached fluid system, such as a radiator. In one embodiment, the three-in-one valve can be used to provide individual zone control for an individual radiator in a multi-radiator and boiler recirculating system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a three-in-one valve in which a single valve includes three independently controlled valve portions to close various aspects of the valve.

2. Description of Related Art

Typical heating systems include a central valve for controlling a flow to plurality of radiators. A thermostat is used to regulate control of the control valve. Accordingly, all radiators are shut down and air is bled upon closing of the control valve.

It is desirable to provide an individually controlled valve to allow a single fluid source, such as a radiator, to be controlled upon control of the valve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a three-in-one valve comprising an inlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow to an inlet of the valve, an outlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow into an outlet of the valve and a control valve for opening and closing the valve. During operation, the control valve can be opened and closed while the inlet shut off valve and outlet shut off valve are in an open position. The inlet shutoff valve and outlet shutoff can be closed for preventing flow into the control valve, thereby allowing the control valve to be serviced without draining of an attached fluid system, such as a radiator. In one embodiment, the three-in-one valve can be used to provide individual zone control for an individual radiator in a multi-radiator and boiler recirculating system.

In one embodiment, the inlet shutoff valve comprises a plug and cap. The plug being fitted within the inlet and the cap being fitted over the plug. The plug can be turned by a shutoff screw for moving the plug with the inlet to close the inlet.

In one embodiment, the outlet shutoff valve is a butterfly valve for preventing back flow from the outlet into the valve. The butterfly valve comprises a rotatable butterfly disc for closing or opening the outlet.

In one embodiment, the control valve comprises a diaphragm valve. The diaphragm valve includes a diaphragm within a body cap and a valve body portion. A bi-stable solenoid is attached to move a plunger adjacent the diaphragm upwards or downwards for opening and closing the control valve.

A remote controlled system can be associated with the three-in-one valve for remotely controlling the control valve.

The invention will be more fully described by reference to the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-in-one valve in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the valve.

FIG. 3A is an end view of an end cap.

FIG. 3B is a side elevational view of the end cap.

FIG. 4A is an end view of an inlet shutoff screw.

FIG. 4B is a side elevational view of the inlet shutoff screw.

FIG. 5A is a plan view of a butterfly disc.

FIG. 5B is an edge view of the butterfly disc.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a butterfly axle.

FIG. 6B is a side view of the butterfly axle.

FIG. 7A is a plan view of a butterfly screw.

FIG. 7B is a side view of the butterfly screw.

FIG. 8A is a plan view of a butterfly O-seal.

FIG. 8B is a side view of the butterfly O-seal.

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of a top portion of a body cap.

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram of a bottom portion of the body cap.

FIG. 10A is a plan view of the bottom portion of the body cap.

FIG. 10B is a sectional view of the body cap shown in FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10C is a side view of the body cap.

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of the valve including the control valve.

FIG. 12A is a schematic view of the valve body including a lower chamber.

FIG. 12B is a cross-sectional view of the valve body of FIG. 12A.

FIG. 12C is a top plan view of the lower chamber of the valve body.

FIG. 12D is a bottom plan view of the valve body.

FIG. 13A is a top plan view of the valve body.

FIG. 13B is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13C is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13D is a sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13E is a sectional view of the valve body.

FIG. 13F is a sectional view taken along line D-D of FIG. 13E.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of operation of an open inlet shutoff valve and an open outlet shutoff valve.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of operation of a closed inlet shutoff valve and closed outlet shutoff valve.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of operation of an open control valve.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a control system for use with the valve of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a panel to be used with the control system of the present invention.

FIG. 19A illustrates use of the three-in-one valve coupled to a radiator.

FIG. 19B illustrates use of the three-in-one valve at an inlet to a radiator.

FIG. 19C illustrates use of the three-in-one valve at outlets of a boiler manifold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of three-in-one valve 10 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Valve 10 includes inlet shutoff valve 12, outlet shutoff valve 30 and control valve 40, as shown in FIG. 2. As described below, inlet shutoff valve 12, outlet shutoff valve 30 and control valve 40 can be individually controlled to allow any one of the valves to be shut down.

In one embodiment, inlet shutoff valve 12 includes plug 13 and end cap 14. Plug 13 is fitted within end 14 of inlet 15. End cap 14, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, is adjacent plug 13 in an open position of inlet valve 12, as shown in FIG. 2. End cap 14 prevents leakage of fluid from inlet 15. Plug 13 includes body 17 and cavity 19. Body 17 can include 0-ring 18. Inlet shutoff screw 20 is received in cavity 19, as shown in FIG. 1. Shutoff screw 20 can be used for screwing plug 13 within inlet 15 to close inlet 15.

Referring to FIG. 2, outlet shutoff valve 30 is fitted within end 31 of outlet 32. In one embodiment, outlet shutoff valve 30 is a butterfly valve. Outlet shutoff valve 30 includes outlet shutoff butterfly disc 33, butterfly axle 34, butterfly screw 35 and butterfly O-seal 36, as shown in FIGS. 4-8. Butterfly screw 35 connects butterfly disc 33 to butterfly axle 34, as shown in FIG. 2. Butterfly O-seal 36 seals between butterfly screw 35 and butterfly axle 34. Butterfly screw 35 can be adjusted within outlet 32 to close outlet 32 and prevent back flow into valve 10.

Referring to FIGS. 9-13, control valve 40 is fitted between end 41 of inlet 15 and end 42 of outlet 32. Inlet 15 and outlet 32 can be integral with valve body 45. Control valve 40 includes body cap 44 and valve body 45. Body cap 44 includes central opening 46 and one or more openings 47, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. One or more openings 47 receive respective coupling members 48 for coupling body cap 44 to valve body 45, as shown in FIG. 1. One or more notches 49 are formed in ring 50 around central opening 46.

Upper surface 51 of valve body 45 includes funneled portion 52 adjacent central opening 53. Central opening 53 is aligned with central opening 46. Funneled portion 52 slopes downwardly to aid flow of fluid to central opening 53. Funneled portion 52 can have an elliptical shape.

Diaphragm 55 is positioned between body cap 44 and valve body 45. Diaphragm 55 divides the area between body cap 44 and valve body 45 into upper chamber 56 and lower chamber 57. Plunger 58 is raised and lowered by bi-stable solenoid 59 to raise and lower diaphragm 55 between an open position allowing flow through control valve 40 and a closed position shutting off flow through control valve 40. For example, bi-stable solenoid 59 can lift plunger 58 to open control valve 40 in a first polarization and thereafter the polarization is reversed to allow the plunger to drop and close control valve 40.

Diaphragm 55 includes an aperture 60. Aperture 60 allows fluid to flow between lower chamber 57 and upper chamber 56 for equalizing pressure between lower chamber 57 and upper chamber 56.

Referring to FIG. 14, during operation of valve 10 in a fully open position shutoff screw 20 is open to allow flow in the direction of arrow D₁ from inlet 15 past plug 13. Butterfly valve 30 is rotated to place butterfly disc 33 in a substantially horizontal position to allow flow in the direction of arrow D₂ past butterfly disc 33.

Referring to FIG. 15, during operation of valve 10 in a fully closed position, shutoff screw 20 is closed to move plug 13 into inlet 15 in the direction of arrow D₃. Butterfly valve 30 is rotated to place butterfly disc 33 in a substantially diagonal position or vertical position to contact edge 59 of outlet 32 to stop flow in the direction of arrow D₄ and prevent backflow in the direction of arrow D₅ into outlet 32. In the closed position, body cap 44, diaphragm 55 and plunger 58 can be removed from valve 10 for servicing.

Referring to FIG. 16, during operation of control valve 40 in an open position, flow enters lower chamber 57 of control valve 40 and proceeds through central opening 46 to outlet 32.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of valve control system 100. Valve controller 102 is coupled to body cap 44. Valve controller 102 can be a solar powered device. Valve controller 102 comprises electronic devices including solar panel 103, battery pack 104, such as, 1.8 volt, addressable transceiver module 105, such as 433.9 Mhz, single chip microcomputer 106, high efficiency voltage regulator 107, such as 3.3 volt, switch mode power supply 108. Valve controller 102 controls bi-stable solenoid 59.

Valve controller 102 operates by requesting the status of control valve 40 on a regular basis from main control unit 110. Valve controller 102 can operate by switching from an extreme low power state to powered state at a specific time, for example, approximately every five minutes. When in the powered states, the single chip micro computer 106 sends a request to main unit 110 for the state of control valve 40 across transceiver module 105. Main unit 110 responds with the required status of control valve 40, if control valve 40 is not in the required state, single chip microcomputer 106 switches on the switched mode power supply 108 to operate a valve coil to change the state of solenoid 59 to the required state resulting in control valve opening or closing as requested. After this operation, valve controller 102 acknowledges the operation by sending the current room temperature back to main control unit 110 for display. When the operation is complete, single chip microcomputer 106 switches off transceiver module 105 and switched mode power supply 108 to minimize the supply current from battery pack 104. During this off period, the supply current is extremely low and allows battery pack 104 to be recharged by ambient light in the room using solar panel 103. Solenoid 59 being of the bi-stable type allows control valve 40 to remain in the open or closed state without requiring any battery current. As each valve controller 102 is assigned a unique address, each valve state can be controlled individually. All valve control is done without wires using low power radio frequency remote control. All functionality of the valve control is done using a programmable processor that is programmed to conserve as much energy as possible.

Main control unit 110 comprises components including main power supply unit 112, liquid crystal display 114, embedded (PC) 116, addressable transceiver module 118, such as 433.9 Mhz, control buttons 119, and GSM module 120. Main control unit 110 contains embedded (PC) 116 that communicates wirelessly to all control valve 40 transceiver module 105. Main control unit 110 is capable of controlling the heating system with features such as independent on/off control of each room radiator; independent day of week and time control for each room radiator; remote operation and programming of heating system; and remote operation of room control valves. Panel 134 can be associated main control unit 110, as shown in FIG. 18.

Control valve 40 can be controlled remotely with remote controller 130. Remote controller 130 can be a mobile phone and/or computer. Panel 134 can be associated with remote controller 130, as shown in FIG. 18. Pulse system accessed by panel 134 allows the user to maintain whatever temperature is desired on each individual radiator.

Remote controller 130 operating from a mobile phone can activate as part of the valve control system a program that can allow the user to control the heating system using a smart messaging system (SMS). The user selects a number of settings such as heating system immediately on/off; timed switch on; on duration; and selection of rooms to heat or not. On selecting the send command button, the program sends the request to main control unit 110 to process the required actions, when main control unit 110 has processed the required actions, main control unit 110 response by sending to remote controller 130, mobile phone, the current temperature of each room and the heating system status.

FIG. 19A illustrates use of three-in-one valve 10 coupled to radiator 200. FIG. 19B illustrates use of three-in-one valve 10 coupled to inlet line 310 to radiator 200. FIG. 19C illustrates use of three-in-one valve 10 at outlets 410 of boiler manifold 412.

In general, the valve and control system of the present invention is a very versatile system. It is capable of various methods of controlling a heating system within a building, it requires no installation or wires to each valve minimizing installation and maintenance costs. The valve and control system of the present invention is capable of saving considerable amounts of heating energy by isolating rooms individually on a timed basis when not in use. The valve and control system of the present invention also provides a method to remotely control the heating system from a mobile phone.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative of only a few of the many possible specific embodiments, which can represent applications of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A three-in-one valve comprising: an inlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow to an inlet of said valve; an outlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow into an outlet of said valve; and a control valve for opening and closing said valve.
 2. The valve of claim 1 wherein said inlet shutoff valve comprises a plug said plug being fitted within said inlet.
 3. The valve of claim 2 wherein said inlet shutoff valve further comprises an opening in said plug and a shutoff screw received in said opening, said shutoff screw being used for screwing said plug within said inlet.
 4. The valve of claim 3 wherein said plug further comprises an O-ring at one end.
 5. The valve of claim 3 wherein said inlet shutoff valve further comprises an end cap adjacent to said plug, said end cap attaching to a portion of said inlet.
 6. The valve of claim 1 wherein said outlet shutoff valve comprises a butterfly valve, said butterfly valve including a rotatable butterfly disc for sealing said outlet.
 7. The valve of claim 6 further comprising a butterfly screw coupled to said butterfly disc, said butterfly screw being rotated for rotating said butterfly disc.
 8. The valve of claim 1 wherein said control valve comprises a diaphragm valve.
 9. The valve of claim 8 wherein said diaphragm valve comprises a diaphragm positioned within a valve body and a body cap, said valve body being adjacent said body cap said diaphragm forming an upper chamber and a lower chamber.
 10. The valve of claim 9 further comprising a bi-stable solenoid coupled to a plunger, said plunger being adjacent said diaphragm, said bi-stable solenoid being activated to raise and lower said plunger for opening and closing said diaphragm.
 11. The valve of claim 9 wherein said diaphragm includes an aperture, said aperture providing fluid flow between said lower chamber and said upper chamber for equalizing pressure in said control valve.
 12. The valve of claim 9 wherein said valve body includes a funnel portion at an upper surface thereof adjacent a central opening in said valve body.
 13. The valve of claim 12 wherein said funneled portion has an elliptical shape.
 14. The valve of claim 1 further comprising a remote controlled control system for controlling said control valve.
 15. The valve of claim 14 wherein said remote controlled control system comprises a valve controller coupled to said control valve and a main control unit communicating to said valve control unit.
 16. The valve unit of claim 15 further comprising a remote control unit, said remote control unit communicating with said main control unit.
 17. The valve of claim 16 wherein said main control unit communicates wirelessly to said valve controller and said remote controller.
 18. Use of a three-in-one valve for controlling fluid flow in a boiler recirculation system wherein said three-in-one valve comprises: an inlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow to an inlet of said valve; an outlet shutoff valve for shutting off flow into an outlet of said valve; and a control valve for opening and closing said valve.
 19. The use of claim 18 wherein the three-in-one valve is coupled to a radiator.
 20. The use of claim 18 wherein the three-in-one valve is positioned in an inlet to at least one radiator.
 21. The use of claim 18 wherein said three-in-one valve is positioned at one or more outlets of a boiler manifold. 